Do You Expect Too Much From Modern Technology?

When is the last time you, or someone you were with, uttered the words “for Pete’s sake, I’ve got no 3G on my mobile” or “this wireless internet connection is so slow!”? If you stop and think about how far the world has progressed over the last 10 years then it does start to appear ridiculous that we are already so demanding of new technologies.

The reason I started to think of this topic was after listening to a stand up comedy sketch. In the 11 minute routine the comedian explains how amazed he is about certain technologies, but how quickly and easily people will moan about them.

All too often we are quick to criticise products and services that 5 years ago didn’t exist and so, are unlikely to have been perfected. For instance, the next time you have interference for a few seconds on your Sky TV, stop and think about what is involved to bring that image into you home. The signal goes into space and back into your home!

Credit: Bill Selak

The same can be said for work-related technology. Flexible working has only come about because of the ability to complete all of your tasks, which a few years ago could only be completed in the office, from home. Booking your holiday can be done from your desk, your home or from a coffee shop with employee self service, ten years ago that was very uncommon.

The ability to walk along an unfamiliar street on the way to a meeting, and be able to find an address using a map application on your phone, was not available ten years ago. If you couldn’t find an address then you had to a) find a public phone and then b) call the office and write the directions down on a piece of paper (if you had a pen and pad that is)! The phrase ‘there’s an app for that’ really does sum up the world in which we live today, everything we need is literally at our fingertips – that’s amazing, and yet we still find things about this technology that makes our lives so much easier, to be negative and moan about………

The next time you get frustrated because a video takes a few more seconds to load on a mobile device, have a think about what you are now able to achieve using modern technology, by the time you’ve thought about it, the video will have probably loaded!